Who's That Guy?
by RainbowLoversx
Summary: All of Anya's friends have been gossiping about the new goth kid at Degrassi. But will she believe the rumors, or will she just have to get to know him for herself? An Enya story!
1. Chapter 1

"Anya MacPherson."

A cheerful girl poked her head from the sea of chatty students, and extended her hand. "Present!" She said with a pleasant grin on her face, as the teacher nodded her head in acknowledgment and checked her off the attendance sheet.

It was the first day of school, and already the classrooms were filled with the spoils of gossip. From who's cute, to who got pregnant, each classroom held it's a bundle of information. Anya was never for the topic of spreading rumors, or listening to people being bashed, but it would seem everyone around her loved to. Her friends were no exception to this fact.

From behind, Anya could listen to her best friend, Holly J, whine to the rest of her friends about her constant hatred towards a certain someone. "Can you believe what he's wearing? I swear, he's just asking to get smacked!" She said as she demonstrated her last words with her hands connecting together.

Across from Holly J and Anya, sat a brunette, wavy haired girl by the name of Fiona. "You know why right? He just wants to stand out. A.K.A grab everyone's attention." She said with a scowl placed on her faint features.

Another girl, who's name was Chantay, with dark brown poofy hair, joined in on the conversation. "Not only does he want people to stare at him, but he also has to show off to every teacher!"

For the past year, Anya had to suffer with listening to her friend's constant complaints on a student who attends Degrassi. His name was Elijah Goldsworthy, and apparently is the most self-absorbed guy in the entire school. His characteristics involve an annoying smirk that makes everyone think he is belittling them, loud obnoxious music blaring through headphones that forces everyone to look at him, piercing green eyes that can look cold to people, and (according to most recent conversations) owns distracting clothing options.

"Did you hear? He drove to school in a hearse."

"Wow, a hearse? That's pretty strange." Anya added to their conversation with a hand supporting her chin from falling off her seat. She was truly uninterested in the conversation, for good reasons. One, she was not the kind of person to dislike someone for being themselves. Two, she never even met the guy.

"Exactly! It is strange, and he thinks he's so cool because of it." Her friends think that it's a blessing she has yet to meet him. They say she has to be the luckiest girl in school to have never crossed paths with the infamous Elijah Goldsworthy. Anya had always wondered what twist of fate came out of it. According to her friends last year, he had all the same classes as hers, but all different periods. Meaning, her friends each had him at least once, and she had a 'smooth' year. All girls envied her for that.

"Or maybe he just liked the car…?" She always did that. Anya always had a small guilty conscious about how her friends talk about the strange boy, so she always tried to secretly defend him. To show her friends his possible perspective.

Fiona shook her head in disbelief. "Anya, you are so _lucky_ you haven't met him. If you did, you'd see that it's all about people noticing him."

"But-"

"You'd see how he always has to be that annoying kid in the back that challenges everyone's opinion on any matters." Claimed Holly J.

"How he always has to be buddy-buddy with every teacher, and charm his way into their good side." Mentioned Fiona.

"Or how he always has to slam his pen on his desk to show that he finished first." Added Chantay.

She should have known by now, that once these three girls unite, there is no stopping them from blabbing on how much they detest Elijah. Separately they were a joy. Chantay was intelligent and witty, Fiona was perky and friendly, and Holly J was a combination of the two. Sometimes Anya could not believe such great girls could hold so much anger towards one boy.

"I guess, I can never understand…" Anya turned around, and Holly J gripped her shoulder.

"You know Anya, I think you are sometimes too sweet for your own good," She smiled her white teeth, as her friends agreed.

Anya smiled back, and she reluctantly agreed. She was too sweet, and too kind, and knew it wasn't a bad thing. She's sure her friends are just over reacting at the situation given, and proceeded to look at the front board. She saw her teacher finished taking role, and tried to calm the class down. It's the first day of school; of course the class wouldn't listen.

Lunch was almost half way over, and she was sitting alone with Holly J, seeing how Chantay had to talk to some of the other members of the power squad, and Fiona went out to lunch with Declan.

"So how was your summer Anya?" She asked as she slurped up her soda can.

"Pretty boring, as usual." Anya twisted her fork around her bought lunch. She wasn't too hungry for the watered down noodles, or the overly dry meatballs that were resting on her plate. She was kicking herself for not bringing a lunch from home at that very moment.

"You know Anya," Before she finished her sentence she popped in a sliced apple in her mouth and quickly chewed it. "I think you should get some excitement in your life."

"Yeah, because that's something I would totally do."

"I'm serious, you should do something daring! Like jump off a plane, or ride a bull, or-" Anya quickly put another sliced apple in Holly J's mouth in attempts to shut her up.

"As _fun_ as that sounds, I think I'll pass on it." Holly J stared at her while chewing her apple.

"Well, you should do something, because I just had our English class and the first assignment is to write an essay about something that impacted your life." Holly J commented as she saw Anya's face scrunch up in thought. "Don't worry about it too much though, it's just going to be a first draft." She extended her hand with the bag full of apples and other assorted fruits. " You sure you don't want any? You look pretty hungry."

"Thanks, " She said as she sees in the far distance a familiar face coming closer to her table. Anya raised her hand to wave and became a beacon to her fellow friend. Holly J turned to see who it was and did the same thing.

"Hey Adam," Holly J said as he finally reached their table. He took his seat with a sad sigh. "What's with the long face?"

"The lunch lines," He said as he rested his elbows on the table and head on his palms. "My class just had to be the farthest from the cafeteria," He rested his hand on the table. "By the time I get here, everything is gone."

It was funny how Anya's class was the first one to reach the cafeteria, and the idea of the food seemed unappealing. She looked down at her lunch, and pushed it to her friend's side. "Here, if you want I can get you your lunch." She saw him stare down the plate of food. " I mean if you want it." Adam stared back to her with grateful eyes.

"Thanks!" He snatched the fork from Anya's hand and dug in, rapidly. Bits of food was flying randomly, the girls could only laugh at his boyish manners.

"Hey Anya, can I see your schedule?" Adam said with noodles still in his mouth. Anya handed him the paper and continued to grab some fruit from Holly J. With one hand Adam took the document, and the other hand kept feeding himself noodles. "Booyah, I have you for my last period!"

"Great," Anya said as she bit into a strawberry. "Holly J just told me about our assignment to be, something about writing an essay."

Holly J included more information. "Yup, you guys have to write about some event that has defined you." She looked up in the air trying to remember more details. "Rough drafts will be due tomorrow, but the entire assignment won't be turned in until ... two days from now, I think."

"Wow, so soon?" Adam complained.

"She said to consider ourselves lucky, because most essays will be due the very next day, and graded strictly."

"Damn." Adam said as he popped the last meatball in his mouth. " I'm starting to regret taking advance English, I heard Fiona saying that _her_ class is just playing the name game."

Anya put a hand on his shoulder, "Adam, don't worry about it, you're a fantastic writer. I'm sure you'll do fine in that class." As the words left her mouth, a loud piercing noise entered her ears. It was the bell.

"Looks like lunch is over," Holly J mentioned as she took out her schedule. "And I'm off to Chem." Holly J sat up, and grabbed her light little purse and waved to her two friends. "Bye guys."

The pair waved back to her, and did the same. They got up and walked together to their last class for the day: English Class. Anya was excited to say the least, she loved challenging herself, and she loved writing. True she mostly wrote fan fiction, but this was a way to expand her knowledge more. To venture out and soak up the tools required to become a great author. She was such a nerd at heart, but loved every bit of herself.

Entering the class room, she saw the teacher Ms. Rockford greet every student with a welcoming handshake. After shaking the hand of her instructor, Anya sat down in the middle of the class room, with Adam right next to her. She was over ecstatic to know that she already had a friend in the class room, and avoids that awkward decision of picking out a seat. Sighing she sets her book back down, and while she does, her eyes are turned to the front of the class room. It looked like everyone was already in their seats, but one boy.

That one boy was chatting up a storm, as he made the teacher laugh in amusement. Anya wondered what was so funny, but ignored the thought as she waited patiently for class to start. People among her were whispering to themselves, and some started rolling their eyes towards the front of the class room.

One second turned into a minute, and a minute turned into five. Anya was aggravated that she was deprived of her precious learning time because of this one boy. Anya did a daring move, by clearing her throat very loudly, that it made the teacher and the boy snap their head to the culprit. Anya sank in her seat, as the teacher just smiled at her. Meanwhile, the boy narrowed his eyes, not in anger, but confusion.

The teacher sat up and cleared her own throat to speak. "Sorry, class. I was just picking a bright student's mind." The entire class, but Anya let out an annoyed groan.

The adult figure gestured the boy to take his seat. The boy was wearing dark clothing with a pair of oddly bleached skinny jeans, and hefty looking shoes. His metal accessories clinked against each other with every action, _movement_, he took. It was hard to not notice him, that's for sure. For some odd reason he never let go of his narrowing stare at Anya. He knew she was the reason that his conversation was interrupted, Anya figured he was probably mad that she put an end to it.

As he walked over to his seat, his eyes were still connected to Anya's as he walked passed her and smirked in amusement. He then took a seat right behind her. Anya felt shivers run down her spine, she had never met someone with such an intense stare. It almost made her whimper.

"Alright now that everyone has taken their seats," the teacher turned around to write on the whiteboard. "My name is Ms. Rockford, and I applaud you for taking the hard road." Once finishing writing, the adult allowed everyone to see the words on the board.

The class looked passed her and began to scribble down the prompts that she had written in the front. Anya carefully wrote them down on her composition book and was scared half to death when she heard a loud noise, that resembled metal hitting a desk, from behind her. She slowly turned around to see the root of what scared her and saw that boy behind her, still holding on to that smirk of his, and a hefty looking pen flat on the desk. Anya eyed him strangely, and he just winked at her.

Blushing, she quickly turned back to the front board, and could feel his eyes on her. She still felt goosebumps on her arms, but tried to forget the strange feeling and focus on writing the directions for her essay. She was distracted from the boy until her body sat up right and stiffened as she started to hear the young male's constant tapping of his fingers against his desk. With every tap, she forgot what she was writing down.

He noticed her flinch with every tap, and smiled to himself thinking that bugging this girl was going to be some fun.

Anya eventually gave up, and decided that she would ask Adam for the prompt later. As her nerves started to calm, her breath hitched as she felt movement on her seat. It was his feet resting on the sides of her chair. To make things worse, he was a shaker. Her whole body was now shaking due to his feet. These little things caused her irritation grow slowly. She could not believe the person behind her, it was almost like he was doing it on purpose.

But she knew that couldn't be the case.

"Psst, Anya."

Anya turned a little to see Adam holding on to a piece of folded paper. He nudged her to take the note, and she did. Under her desk she rapidly unfolded the paper and looked down to read it.

"_It looks like the girls can't say you're lucky anymore."_

Anya's eyebrows bunched together in confusion as she mouthed to Adam "Why?"

Adam looking straight ahead, scribbled something down on a small article of paper and passed it on to Anya again. Anya, once more, unfolded it and read it in her head. She was shocked beyond belief about the contents of what the letter said.

"_Well in case you haven't figured it out, right behind you sits Elijah Goldsworthy."_

She could have sworn, she felt_ Elijah's_ smile becoming more sinister, and she didn't even have to turn around to see that.

**Author's Note: I hope you guys like the first chapter! Thanks to Disposable Sunshine for inspiring me to write an Enya story! :)**


	2. Chapter 2

The bell rang, signaling that class was over and Holly J Sinclair shoved her way through the Degrassi hallways. She eagerly stopped in front of a classroom that was starting to evacuate slowly. It was both of her best friends' class room, and she was waiting patiently for them to appear. With each person that left the class room, her smile increased, knowing that they would come out eventually. As quickly as it came, the smile was flipped upside down as she spotted an insecure Anya right next to the very confident, Elijah Goldsworthy.

Anya had a challenging first English class, and tried to bolt out the door, but obviously she was not the only one, as students stomped their way to the exit. Anya quickened her pace, and right when she could experience sweet freedom, the most annoying thing happened. Elijah Goldsworthy sped up as well, and they were both caught stuck between the door frames. Back in the classroom, a light-hearted laugh escaped the teacher's lips. Anya blushed as they both squirmed their way out.

With a simple push, Elijah set the two free and smugly laughed as he walked away.

Anya rubbed her shoulders, while sending a frustrated look to the back of the boy's head. Quietly, she muttered to herself. "He's just so…"

"Annoying, repulsive, horrible, inconsiderate?" Anya turned around, barely acknowledging her best friend's existence. "Or how about all of the above!" Holly J clapped her hands in conclusion.

Anya stayed silent as she continued to rub her arms. Her head turned to the direction of the previously occupied classroom and saw Adam barely come out.

"Don't forget tormenting," Adam added to the list as he walked over to Anya and patted her back. "It looked like he just loved messing with you."

"What!" Holly J formed her fists into balls and grabbed Adam's collar. "What did he do to her!"

"Easy there!" Adam put his hands up in defense. "It's not my fault that Anya was such an easy target."

"Hey!" Anya finally spoke up. "How am I an 'easy' target?"

"You let him get under your skin, so he took advantage of that."

Holly J loosened her grip and then released her hold on the boy. "It's true. You have to be tough as nails with that boy!" Holly J came up front to Anya and wagged her perfectly manicured slim finger at her. "Are you listening to me? Don't give him the chance to make you feel inferior!"

Anya resisted the urge to roll her eyes. Honestly, he was a tad unpleasant, but that did not mean she had to go world war three on the person. He represented an annoying fly, that she didn't necessarily have to swat away. Ignoring the 'buzzing' could be just as effective. Yup, that's the plan. A fine plan. "Alright Holly J, whatever you say."

Smiling, the short stylish girl swept both her friend's arms into hers and led them to the front entrance. "Come on, I'll give you guys a ride home today!"

The three walked to the parking lot, where Sav Bhandari was leaning against an extravagant looking truck. Along the side of him, were Fiona Coyne and her brother, Declan. Both were holding hands and giggling at the world.

Noticing her friends, the optimistic brunette waved her vacant hand in the air. "Guys! Come on!" She said eagerly, meanwhile her brother just stared happily at his joyful companion.

As they reached the vehicle, Anya stared at the bubbly personality and her past love interest, and then frowned. "A-Are you sure we're all going to fit?"

"That's a good question, Anya…" Sav narrowed his eyes at Holly J. "I only have room for four."

She slouched and stomped her heels on the cement, annoyed with the problem at hand.

"I'm out!" Adam announced out loud with hands in the air. Anya quickly turned to him with saddened eyes. How could she survive inside the car drive without him?

She understood Adam, meaning that they had a lot in common. Something they both shared was their irritation of the girls grouped together. It would seem like they needed at least ten minutes a day to bash on a certain student. As far as she knew, Adam wasn't exactly friends with the most hated guy in Degrassi, but he didn't bother him and didn't stare at him differently when word got out about his transgender situation, that put Eli on his 'not a complete ass' list.

"No, Adam." She put a hand on his shoulders and peered at him. "You shouldn't walk by yourself." Adam stared at her quizzically. Anya then moved her blue irises to the siblings making baby noises at each other, and then back to Adam's clear blues.

Adam tightened his lips together. He understood. "Right… Owen might get the urge to jump me." He said as he still continued to look at Anya for approval. With a hardly noticeable nod from Anya, Adam finally relaxed his nerves and turned to the rest of the gang.

"I think I should walk with him," Anya volunteered quickly.

Holly J looked at her friend as if she was insane. "No offense Anya, but how could you possibly protect Adam? Maybe Declan should go; he seems a bit more intimidating." As soon as the words fell out of her mouth, Fiona was seen gripping her brother's hand tighter, while Declan seemed unaffected by the solution.

Adam saw the siblings' reaction, and then Anya's. "He could come with me…but Owen and his crew would never hurt a girl. And I could always use Anya as a shield." He joked as he nudged Anya's sides.

"So, what's the plan then?" Sav interjected his voice into the conversation. "I need to get home quickly to do some work." He took out his keys and threw them in the air to catch.

"Fine, you two walk home." Holly J said with a worried expression stamped on her face. In the background, blaring music invaded their ears. Random students, including the circle of friends, all turned to the source, and were not shocked to see Elijah Goldsworthy starting up his hearse, along with the radio. He held that same smirk he had all day, as he pulled out of the parking lot and passed the group of friends, and took his leave.

Holly J held a small angry pout, just seeing him pass by, annoyed her. Through gritted teeth she faced her friends again. "Don't get into trouble. Okay?" Hugging them both, Holly J jumped into the truck and everyone followed, including the giggling siblings. Sav sighed, wishing he wasn't such a pushover. As Sav backed up, Anya could already hear Holly J's and Fiona's "I hate Elijah Goldsworthy" voice seethe through the windows, while both boys locked in the car looked worn out.

"Saved ourselves from that death trip." Adam said playfully.

"Yeah," She said as they began to walk home. Adam offered to walk to her house first, and she accepted the kind gesture. It wasn't awkward walking with him, in fact she loved being around Adam. He was one of the few… who was she kidding, he was the only friend that she could talk to and not have to worry about. She loved Holly J to death, but sometimes, when around others her personality differentiates from the one Anya adores. Not necessarily a big difference, but someone who wants to belong. Adam knew he didn't belong, Anya knew it too, but it was because he deserved better than what Degrassi had to offer.

"What happened back there, Anya?" Adam asked casually as he swayed his hands with every step. "I thought you were over everything."

Anya sighed deeply; she knew he would ask questions. It was alright though; Adam and her shared a lot of close conversations. They kept each other sane, basically. "I am, it's just I don't like the constant reminder." Last year, Anya had one of the biggest crushes on Sav Bhandari. She thought that he flirted with her on a daily basis, but seeing how he's with Holly J now and she's alone, could only mean it was all in her head. Still, she could have sworn that she felt a sense of chemistry with the kid; Fiona even pointed it out to make the chances more real. But no, by the end of the year, he asked Holly J Sinclair to the last dance. Holly J, not Anya. It was kind of unexpected, not to mention hurtful.

"Well, it's not like Holly J stole Sav from you or anything." Adam said in objective voice.

"I know, I know." Anya said while crossing her arms in disappointment. "But I always thought he liked me, and then I see him with her… it lowers a person's self esteem you know?"

"Psh, I get what you mean." Memories filled Adam's head about a certain junior girl who last year flirted with him, then revealed his little secret to the entire school.

Anya looked over at Adam's features and noticed his anger and regret slowly rise. "Sorry, I brought it up. It must still hurt for you."

"I'm more upset about the outcome, than what happened." His life changed after that day, he became the target of constant bullying from intolerable students at Degrassi. He wasn't hated, but considered very weird, a freak perhaps. If it wasn't for the good souls, like Anya, Holly J, and their little groups here and there, he would have transferred out, immediately. "But, I'm still pissed at Bianca."

"I wouldn't blame you." Besides Elijah, Holly J's second person to complain about was indeed Bianca DeSousa. When the conversations lead to that topic, Anya was not so hesitant to hear. One cannot call that hypocritical because when a person does something wrong intentionally, and doesn't even apologize, that person loses all respect in Anya's mind. As they continue to walk along the side walk, the silence becomes comfortable by the two. It was nice just venting out to each other. Especially when they were good listeners.

"Alright class, it was a tough time grading, but I see potential in every single one of you." Said the teacher as she held a large stack of rough drafts in her tired-from-using-red-pens hand. Standing up, the adult figure walked around the room to distribute the paper work to their owners. With each paper, she openly spoke her opinion. She said everything with constructive criticism. "Remember, you all got full credit if you did the assignment, but I still put another grade to show how well you would have done."

"Adam, Decent work, I enjoyed reading it, but I'm afraid you need to be a little more clear on your tone. Other than that, really good." As he took the paper out of her hands, he smiled to himself. He received a solid 'B' with a "Good Job" on it.

"Now let's see, who's next…" She took out another essay from her pile. "Ah, Anya MacPherson." Conveniently for her, the student was right next to Adam. The young lady looked timidly at the teacher, as she was curious about her grade. The teacher smiled at her, but then saw her essay. "Tsk, tsk, Ms. MacPherson. I would have expected the complete opposite from a fan fiction writer with juicy stories..." She said referring to the paper at hand.

"What do you mean?" She asks as she slowly grabs her paper. It held a straight out "C". The concept of barely passing was foreign to Anya. She was shocked to say the least.

"You're work was well written, truly AP material, but it felt like it was wasted on something that held no emotions. It had no real purpose."

Looking sadly at her "C" paper she felt breathing at the back of her neck. "In translation, you put sprinkles on crap." Eli said in a low whisper to annoy her. Anya was scared, and angered by his actions enough, so that she jumped in her seat, making her grip the paper and create wrinkled lines.

Ms. Rockford heard Eli's laughter and saw Anya's reaction. Taking pity on the sensitive girl, the teacher thought it would be nice to stand up for her. "Mr. Goldsworthy, you shouldn't criticize..." She said and handed him his paper. "You put crap on a cake." The class snickered at the teacher's comment. He read the paper and it held a big "C" similar to Anya's. She turned to see his reactions, which was also complete shock. He too, was never given a grade lower than an A- in an English Class.

"You had such passion in you're writing, but cannot explain yourself. It was as if you were bouncing back and forth with your ideas." She sighed and looked at both the students in front of her. "It's funny how, you-" She pointed at Eli. "-write with such strong emotions." Her finger moved onto Anya. "-And you have all the knowledge of a skillful writer."

The teacher wished to just combine the two brains to create a lean mean-writing machine. With that last thought, the teacher snapped her fingers. "That's it!"

The class stared at their crazy English teacher in curiosity. "You'll both be English partners!" She looked at the two's reaction. Their eyes immediately left their "C" paper, no longer worrying about it.

"You can't be serious." Said Anya in a low tone.

"Ms. MacPherson, it would benefit you both. I'm sure of it. Besides, I'm the teacher and I make the rules at the moment. You two will have to be partners, and I expect to see great improvement." She spoke with much authority in her voice. Turning her low heels, the teacher went on to pass out the rest of the essays.

Adam, this whole time in the background finally had a chance to see Anya's emotions. Purely, stunned with a hint of depression. Glancing at Eli, he just had his face on the desk, probably dragging out his disappointment at the low grade.

"Well, this is going to be interesting."

The bell rang, and students jumped at the sound of it. They all hurried to grab their belongings to leave the so-called prison they called school. Even the teacher shoved her way through students, trying to get satisfy her daily coffee urges. As the classroom cleared out, Adam motioned for Anya to leave with him, like usual, but she told him to go on without her. Adam wanted to question her, but seeing a gloomy (more than usual) Elijah Goldsworthy, and then turning back to Anya with doubtful facial features, answered his confusion. After wishing her good luck, he left the room.

Anya got up, and tapped the boy's shoulders lightly. Eli didn't move. Anya cleared her throat to get a reaction out of him, but still got no results.

"Can you at least show me you are alive?" Anya said as she crossed her arms and tapped her foot in frustration.

"What do you want?" He said as he finally snapped out of his daze and reached for his supplies. It was as if his attitude took a three-sixty and felt completely drained from his usual loud antics.

"Ms. Rockford said we're going to be partners. So we should set up a meeting or something, right?"

Eli laughed at the girl, regaining his confident attitude. "You know, we really don't have to."

"But she said it would help us both…"

"I think you just want an excuse to see me more." He said as he smugly smiled at her. Anya wanted to gag, but decided to hide her disgust. Seeing the strained face Anya was trying to hide, he decided to take it easy with her. "Fine, how about right now?"

"Right now?" She asked surprised. Anya was never for spontaneous actions, she liked to plan everything before she accepted any duties. "I don't think I ca-?"

"Public Library. Now, or no deal." He pulled his backpack over his shoulder. "I'll give you a ride or something." He turned his feet and headed out the door. Waiting a second, he looked back at the girl who didn't follow him. She was already conflicted by the idea.

With a deep sigh, he leaned on the door frames. "Contrary to what people say or think, I don't bite." He said and chuckled. "I'll wait for you by my hearse if you actually want to do this."

Quietly, Anya nodded her head. "Can I call my parents first? I don't want them to worry. "

"Do whatever you want. Just hurry. "Finishing his sentence, he left the room, but almost ran into a body. The person was Fiona, and she held a look of disgust as he just passed right by her without even saying a sorry.

Clenching her fists in anger, she approaches Anya. "So rude." Flipping her hair in the air to get rid of little frustrations, her nerves calm down. "Come on, Sav's waiting…"

Shaking her head, Anya was somewhat happy that she had an excuse to avoid the car pool. "I don't think I need a ride today Fiona-"

"If this is about yesterday, I'm sorry. Holly J needed a ride, and you know how Sav won't go anywhere without her…"

"It's not that-"

"Anya, I'm your best friend, don't try to lie to me." The tall, tan-skinned girl lowered her head in self-disappointment. "I'm sorry I put you in that situation. I made sure that they wouldn't accompany us this time."

Placing her hand on her friend's shoulder she replied, "Fiona, don't worry about it. And I assure you that I have stuff to do. If I could, I would ride with you." Anya smiled and stared at her friend.

Regaining her smile, Fiona's attitude shifted towards relief. Relief of not hurting her good friend's feelings. Happy, they both shared a quick hug. "I promise I won't ever let that happen again."

"It's fine." Lowering her eyes, she tried to put on a brave smile. "I need to get over it, and seeing them together will help me."

"I guess." Fiona's hug was then watered down to them holding hands. "Now, why can't you ride with us? Do your parents plan on picking you up or something?"

Anya's smile faded away to a line, her eyes not making contact to her friend's. "Not exactly." Fiona was curious at what was so fascinating behind her, and was about to turn around.

"Ahem."

Both girls steered their gazes at a teenage boy standing by the door, with hands shoved down to his pockets. "You know, you girls talk too much."

Fiona's mouth was about to open and jump on him for eavesdropping until she saw Anya's figure walk towards his direction, with her head down. With surprised eyes, Fiona stood stunned. "What-?"

Moving her head to the side, Anya paused. "I have to go Fiona, I'll see you tomorrow." She weakly waved her hand to her friend and continued to walk towards the 'enemy'.

Eli waited for Anya to go through the doors before smirking at her abandoned friend and shutting the door, hard.

In the vast hearse, a simple ring tone wouldn't stop interrupting the awkward atmosphere among the two teenagers. Checking her phone for the hundredth time, Anya read all the new texts she received in the last minute.

_ANYA! WHY THE HELL ARE YOU WITH ELIJAH GOLDSWORTHY?- Fiona C._

_Did he blackmail you or something? Tell me, I probably have dirt on him! We can fight this! –Fiona C._

_Is he doing anything to you! I'll kill him! D: -Fiona C._

_Anya respond PLZ! –Fiona C._

_ANYA! WTH! Is wat Fiona sed true?- Holly J S._

_Hey Anya, the girls are freaking out. I have to say, it's pretty hilarious. Mind if you keep them crazy for a bit longer?- Adam T._

Staring at all her messages, she could only help but laugh at the last one. Adam's always there to push people's buttons, but in a comical sense. Avoiding most of her texts, she focused on the one that caught her interest, and replied back.

_Enjoy their hair falling off for now, I'm going to tell Holly J tomorrow at lunch. :]_

Pushing send, her faint smile disappeared, as she heard thrash music pushed into her ears, reminding herself exactly where she was. With a sigh, she leaned her head on the glass window of the vehicle. She could not believe her own discomfort. Throughout the years, she never experienced the feeling of pure annoyance. Sure, one of her best friends did take her crush away from her, but she would never say that annoyed her… perhaps it saddened her, but not annoyed. Her peers were right. The guy held qualities that could get on people's nerves.

As the music continued to pound on her head, she snuck a glance at the driver. His eyes' were focused on the road. She hated to admit it, but if you take away the cocky attitude and maybe the blinding music, he looked sort of cute. Snapping her head away from the thought, she played with the necklace resting on her chest, attempting to distract herself.

Anya always pitied the way her friends, and occasionally the school, talked about him. She told herself it wasn't fair. Sure the guy was annoying, but a lot of people are. Heck, the school targeted Adam, and he's a great guy. Maybe underneath all the black, one can find a decent boy. It's worth a try, right?

With that thought, her cell phone vibrated and played a ring tone. It was Adam's reply.

"Ugh, can't you shut that thing off?" Complained the driver.

"I can say the same thing about your music." The words came out bluntly, and she didn't even realize it. Holding her breath, she slowly turned to see the boy's reaction. He quickly glanced at her and with one hand, switched the radio station off.

"There, now you do the same." His eyes remained on the black pavement.

Quietly, she took out her phone and put it on silence. Gripping the phone on her lap, she regretted the request of shutting off the music. Now it was complete silence with a hint of uneasiness around Anya's aura.

"Shouldn't we be there by now?"

"Calm down, I'm going to the one in the other city…"

"What! Why?" She jumped at the news and squirmed herself in her seat to face him directly. It made her feel uncomfortable, the thought of going out of the city with a boy she hardly knew. Let alone a boy that seemed to irk her.

"Wouldn't want anyone to bother us." He said casually as he took a turn.

"Don't you think that's a little drastic?"

"Don't you think you're exaggerating? It's only fifteen minutes away…"

Going back to sitting properly, the girl looked fearfully ahead. Out of the corner of his eyes', Eli took notice and was amused by her reaction. She was such a worrywart to the pint that it was humorous. Never did he think that he would meet a girl that was completely awkward with doing a simple task like going to a library out of the city.

She started biting her lip.

Was this girl serious? The thought of her just being scared around him crossed his mind. It was a possibility, seeing how everyone always had to bash on him. According to the gossip floating around the school, he was considered as a guy obsessed with death, and obsessed with himself. That could make a girl freak out. Especially a girl like Anya MacPherson. Word gets around about her too, nothing bad though. Just that she was a social butterfly, and always has a kind hearted soul about others.

It made him sick to his stomach, hearing about a girl so cheerful. So friendly.

She couldn't be so forgiving, so nice. But then again she is sitting in his car with little signs of complaint, maybe she was being polite. That or just plain crazy.

"Here's my essay."

Sitting down in one of the many available desks, Anya handed over her paper over to her English partner. Reluctantly, the boy did the same. For a few seconds, they read each other's work and said nothing to each other. Anya's focus was completely engulfed in the other person's essay, there were mistakes here and there, but she could understand where he was coming from. And the subject he chose scared her. Eli's read-through was different. He was lazily reading the paper with one hand, and a bored expression.

After about ten minutes, a male's voice was heard snickering.

Twisting her head to the direction, she narrowed her eyes. "What's so funny?"

"You. And this essay." He said with a smile and slammed the paper on the table. "I can't believe you wrote about winning an award."

"And what is wrong with that?"

"Stop making me laugh MacPherson, I'll get kicked out of this place if I make too much noise."

Her eyes held a spark of anger, Eli noticed that it faded away when she took a deep breath. "Alright, then what should I write about?"

"Something that isn't so monotone."

"Like ice cream and rainbows?…" She tried to joke with the boy next to her. Instead he raised an eye brow and glanced back to her paper.

"Writing an essay, not a sentence." He joked back. Anya was pleasantly surprised by his response. She knew that no person could be a complete jerk, there is a glimmer of hope of him being humane. "Try again, this time be serious about it."

Thinking in her head, there was a few things that did grind her thoughts. One thing was the injustice of the school's actions towards her friend Adam, but honestly that was more of his battle than hers. Then there was her mother's cancer, but really she was already fed up with that subject, she knew that they were doing all they could, and knew that whatever happened would happen. Besides, that would have been too personal, and her parents would not take kindly if they heard that she wrote about her mother's cancer. Then what?

"Maybe someone backstabbed you? Someone close?" He hinted and leaned forward to her.

"Sorry, I'm afraid I'm a boring person. I don't have anything like-." She averted her attention to the young man's paper with amazement. "-having my girlfriend die after a breakup…"

It astounded her, the courageous and/or heartless expression he held. She knew if she had experienced anything resembling close to that, her very being would be depressing. She could only assume people did not know this fact about Elijah Goldsworthy. It could open people's eyes to see the reasons for his hearse and his selection of attire. The story was heartbreaking and compelling, but like Ms. Rockford stated, it was a little too random, the way it was written.

The boy looked away and shrugged his shoulders as if it was nothing. "Not everyone can be a piece of work like me." He smirked at the girl and resumed leaning closer to her. "I'm sure you have _some_ skeletons in your closet." He mentioned and his figure was almost at the point of towering over her.

"You know, the assignment doesn't have to be negative." She responded back and slid her chair a slightly away from her partner. He gave a small chuckle and leaned back to his chair with hands holding the back of his head. It was comical to see her squirm in certain situations. She was so damn bashful.

"True, but great stories are negative. Taps into reality, instead of that Disney fairytale crap."

She couldn't fight him on that logic. "Then I honestly have nothing to write about." It was hopeless for her, all her life she had been protected and prevented from any bad influences. She had never disobeyed any rules, never been the rebellious type, never stepped outside of her comfort zone, never colored outside the lines. She hated to admit it, but she was a pretty boring girl.

"Maybe it's a sign." He said as he put his feet on the table and closed his eyes. Anya ignored the rude behavior and tried to hear him out. "You should do something thrilling. Something people might not expect you to do."

Was it that obvious that she was such a bore? "I would, but I'm afraid our deadline won't give me the time to do anything." It was a relief, in a sad way. Although she still had nothing to write, it was a whole lot better than to actually venture out into the world of 'thrills'. "So back to my essay, maybe I could fib about some things to spice it up?"

"Won't be the same, you have to write what you know." Poking his eye out to her, he let out a sigh and leaned his chair farther back. "You know if you want, I could just ask for an extension on this thing."

"It's the first assignment of the year! I hear she is incredibly strict, she wouldn't allow it."

"I can be pretty convincing."

"No, we can't. I should probably just turn in what I have." Collecting her rough drafts, she was stopped by a strong hand. Eli had sat himself appropriately and stared at the girl at his side with his infamous smile.

"Don't worry, I'll take care of it." He said and went back to his casual stance. "But you owe me." He said and wiggled his eyebrows suggestively.

Subconsciously, Anya rolled her eyes. "And what would I owe you Goldsworthy?"

Folding his hands on the table, he smirked at her deviously. "Well, how about you let me pick out that 'thrilling' activity you have to do."

Not completely believing she would follow through with his offer, she agreed to the bet and resumed gathering her work. Once again, chills ran down her spin suddenly. She could feel a sinister look coming from his direction. And like before, she dared not turn around to see it.

**Hope you like it so far! Let me know if I should continue the story or not I'll try to update soon!**


	3. Chapter 3

Bright and early in the morning, Anya was quick to gather her equipment for class. She dreaded the day ahead of her, dealing with her friends' pestering minds, turning in her emotionless paper in, and worst of all sitting in front of Elijah Goldsworthy. Although it might seem she had some space away from him to become less aggravated, she still loathed the way he always had to bang his pencil on the back of her seat, how he tapped her desk and shifted her seat forward, or how his headphones always interrupted her train of thought. Shutting her eyes tight, Anya braced herself for what was to come and slammed her locker door closed.

"Whoa there, angry much?"

Opening her eyes, she turned around to see a familiar warm face. "Not angry, just a little tense."

Adam, tired from waking up at an inhumane hour for school, sunk his body to the floor and just sat against the lockers. "So I take it your little date with Eli was a fail?" Adam's humor in his words was made obvious by his smile.

Putting her hands on her hips, she looked down at him. "Is that what you've been telling Holly J and Fiona? That I went on a date with him?"

"Date, kidnapped, it's all the same." He said nonchalantly.

Anya made a fake pout and lightly kicked his foot. Adam burst in laughter at the reaction. After containing himself, he saw that Anya had joined him on the floor with arms still crossed. "Oh come on Anya, you know I wouldn't say something like that to them. Something worse probably, but not that lame."

She smiled. "I know you wouldn't."

"So how was your day yesterday? Dr. Doom made you into a minion?"

"It was…alright. I helped him correct his work, but we couldn't save mine."

Adam looked up and tried to adjust his beanie. "I still don't get how you of all people can say that. You're probably the best writer in that class."

Anya smiled at the compliment and shook her hair. "According to Elijah and Ms. Rockford, that means nothing if I don't have inspiration."

"I'm sure you'll find something to change that." Adam looked over at Anya who stayed silent for a while. "Anya?"

Quick with her movement, Anya clamped Adam's mouth shut with her right hand. Using the same hand, she directed his face closer to hers from the side. With muffled noises coming out of him, Adam was completely confused.

"Shhh." Anya whispered. Adam's features looked puzzled. "Do you hear that?"

Wondering about the noise Anya was talking about, he attempted to listen closely to whatever it was he was supposed to hear. Slowly, there was a familiar noise distinguishing itself from the usual ruckus of the crowded halls. _Clack, Clack, Clack…._

"Holly J!" Both characters squealed frightened. They scrambled up and collected their belongings from the ground. Anya and Adam were desperate to avoid the redheaded girl and her many questions. When Holly J starts on her infamous rants, she never ends.

"Good luck, Anya!" Adam finished assembling his objects and sprinted to the other side of the hallway. Anya was annoyed with Adam at that moment because he basically left a soldier behind. Still it amused Anya how he was so desperate to leave. Adam's a guy, and even he is overpowered by Holly J. Sinclair, everyone is.

"Why did I have to take all these honor classes?" The girl complained, still shifting her book bag to fit all of her subjects. The noise was getting closer and closer, and with anxiety rushing, two books happened to slip out of her fingers and plummet to the floor. "Oh, no."

Crawling down to gather the two books, Anya reached over to snatch her subjects until a heavy boot stepped on them. Snapping her hand out of the way, innocently she looked up to the owner of the combat boots. As expected, it was her worst fear in the given situation.

"Well, well, well," Smirked Eli, looking down at Anya, "I never thought I'd see the day, Anya MacPherson on her knees."

Embarrassed, and insulted, Anya jumped back to her standing position and dusted herself off. All the while trying to avoid eye contact. Meanwhile, Eli released the bashful girl's books from his foot and picked them up for her. Entertained, that she still wouldn't look at him, he smiled and pushed the textbooks to the quiet girl.

"Thanks."

"Don't thank me yet." He mentioned casually and pivoted to another direction. Walking away, Anya stared at the boy questionably. He was certainly an odd ball, the boy said the most absurd things, yet Anya couldn't help but think he might be more than just an annoying character. Recalling the essay he wrote, Anya assumed her new found sympathy could have derived from that.

Still, that couldn't excuse everything he has done.

Before she could think of anything else, a screeching sound was heard right in her left ear.

"ANYA!"

The books in her hand jumped into the air and on the floor once again. Heart beating fast, Anya took deep breaths when she saw her shorter friend staring at her with panicked eyes. Anya dreaded the conversation that was about to take place.

"For the millionth time, I'm just his English partner!"

Anya was clutching her head from the massive migraine she was developing. It was lunch, and throughout the entire day Anya was bombarded with question by her companions. Not only was Holly J a handful, but apparently everyone wanted to hear about the circumstance given to Anya. Fiona and Chantay even took time out of their schedule to interrogate Anya during lunch.

"I was not kidnapped, blackmailed, or_ brainwashed_." Adam snickered in the background while trying to eat the lunch provided by his friend. Anya could never understand how Adam took so much enjoyment out of filling the girl's heads with complete nonsense. She assumed he was like that little brother who one loves, but causes problems to arise in one's life. He's lucky that Anya wouldn't bear to lose him as a friend. "I am forced to work with him because of Ms. Rockford. Is that clear?"

All the girls sighed with relief as they sank more comfortably in their cafeteria seats. Holly J was the first to regain her normal composure. "Why the hell were we worried? Anya's smart enough to know who to avoid." The pale skinned girl nudged and winked to her exhausted friend. "Hey, on the bright side, you can finally join us on our 'Goldsworthy Hate Fest'."

All the girls clapped in unison. Huddled together, they're eyes sparkled with gossip. Although Anya did know they had reason to be annoyed with Elijah Goldsworthy, her morals deprived her of ever feasting on hate. With her discomfort made obvious, the girls ignored the sign and began to giggle amongst themselves.

"Did you see what he wore today?" The wavy-haired brunette exclaimed. "A freaking plaid tie, with a noisy shirt! Can you believe that?"

"Fashion don't."

"I swear he needs to get over himself, he thinks he can pull these things off!"

High-fives were distributed as their eyes turned to Anya MacPherson and Adam Torres. Mouth full of macaroni and cheese, Adam attempted to speak. "Wut?"

"Don't you guys want to contribute too?"

Through muffled words, Adam tried once again to speak properly. "Dude, I'm a dude. I don't 'gossip'." After his stance, he continued to devour Anya's school lunch with enthusiasm. The girl's face scrunched up at his manners and started to lightly giggle. He was such a guy.

Eyes shifted towards Anya. Shrinking in her place, Anya looked up to the towering girls. "I admit he is a tad much, but I refuse to talk about someone in any negative manner. How do you think he would feel if he heard you guys saying all those things?"

Placing a hand on the guilty friend, Fiona gave her a sympathetic look. "Anya, this is high school. At one point everyone hears stuff about themselves that isn't good." The kind face then twisted into a smirk. "It's just that some people get more attention than others."

Holly J quickly stepped into the conversation, "Yeah, I mean how many times have you heard that Jenna's pregnant, or that Hannah is cheating on Wesley, _or _that Bianca gives oral sex in the boiler room." The last phrase sent shivers through the girl's body. It was no secret that Holly J Sinclair was a flirt, but the girl had her limits. She wasn't going to lower herself to certain peer pressure.

"Yeah Anya, it's a normal high school ritual." stated Chantay.

"Okay then if it's a rite of passage, then what do people say about me?" Anya questioned. If what her friends say is true, what diabolical lies had they spread about her?

Adam started to choke on his dinner roll. Lightly pounding on his back, Anya offered him a drink and he shoved it down to clear his throat. "Are you okay Adam?"

He meekly nodded, while shrinking in his seat and staring at the trio of girls whose eyes were adjusting back and forth. The three girls looked at each other with a hint of uncertainty, and then redirected their gazes back at their baffled friend. "Anya, people don't really talk about you."

It puzzled her, she came to Degrassi as a shy follower her first year, but was hardly picked on. She kept to herself at all times. Then she met some treasured friends and was open to the public. Not exactly popular, but she was someone in that school, she was an honor and AP student, took courses that some students struggled in, and always treated everyone with respect. People love to put others down, they crave it.

Anya's eyes narrowed in on her friends. She couldn't believe it. "But you just said that everyone is talked about."

"Not you, I mean you don't get yourself involved in many situations." Chantay piped up attempting to convince Anya.

"But-"

The bell interrupted her argument. The group of friends was grateful as they jumped up to the sound and snatched their purses. Holly J gave a full-hearted smile to the two students who were still sitting down. "I'll see you after school."

"Unless Mr. Goldsworthy captures our little Anya again." Adam said out loud with an enormous smirk plastered on his face. Anya smacked his arm, and he winced but with the smile still intact on his face.

Holly J pouted and flipped her hair. "He'll just have to pry Anya from my perfectly manicured hands." A small smile lifted in Anya's features. It's true that harming a person's reputations was completely against her morals, but the little defense Holly J always adds, makes it endearing in a way. Just shows how much she cares about her. Perhaps she _can_ trust them.

Everyone waved as they said their goodbyes. Separating from their spot, Adam and Anya collected their lunches and shoved them in the designated area. After disposing the trash, their feet stepped into the hallways where plenty of students were gathering at their lockers to whisper amongst themselves. Anya still had that suspicious feeling that her friends could have been hiding something from her. Maybe all those whispers and side glances she saw in the hallway were meant for her.

Shaking off the feeling, her happy exterior resurfaced as she entered her next class with her friend. Arriving at the room, her face fell once more as the reminder of her annoyance was sitting on her desk. Not in the seat, but literally on her desk.

"Looks like someone's been waiting for you." Adam said as he walked passed her and took his seat next to the smirking Elijah Goldsworthy. A noise was produced in her throat as she slowly walked over to her desk.

"Excuse me Elijah, Can you please move?" Anya's voice was soft and pleasant. She figured that she shouldn't challenge him, seeing how he loves to pester people to their breaking point. Well, that's what her friends warn her about.

He closed his eyes and shrugged. "Well since you asked so nicely." Jumping from his previous position, Elijah's feet were planted on the ground and he was standing right in front of her. Anya never realized how narrow the aisles were until that moment. They were so close, that she couldn't move without bumping into Adam's seat. With a deep blush in Anya's face, Eli smirked above her and moved out of the way.

Releasing the deep breath she was holding, her head felt lightheaded for the brief moment and quickly sat down on her chair. Eli did the same action.

Still smiling his wicked grin, Eli came forward in his seat to Anya's ear. Anya jumped as usual. "You know you can thank me now." He said and sat back down leaning on his chair. Anya's head snapped to his direction in utter confusion.

"What are you talking about?"

The bell rang for a second time signaling the end of the passing period. The teacher then finally stood up from her desk and walked to the front of the classroom. Clapping her hands she spoke. "Alright class. I'll be walking around to collect those revised essays."

Anya sighed and slid further into her seat when Ms. Rockford was approaching her row. Hiding her face, the teacher stood next to her and glanced down. Anya repositioned herself into the appropriate posture as her palms started to sweat from her nerves. "Ms. Rockford, I'm sorry but-"

"Oh don't worry Ms. MacPherson." The woman's smile increased as she looked over to the student behind Anya. "Mr. Goldsworthy explained your predicament, and I support it."

Anya's eyes opened as a dear in the headlights, she could not believe what she was hearing. "Of course this is very unconventional for me to say, but I honestly want you to improve your writing." Her slim hand pointed behind Anya. "And your partner assures me that this will do just that."

Slowly, Anya's shocked expression turned blank as she looked at the front of the class. Hearing her teacher's low heels walk passed her desk, Anya hears a paper being collected, and an enthusiastic female voice speak. "Ah, and I see Ms. MacPherson really helped you out, huh Mr. Goldsworthy?" There was no response as the sound of the heels started to move farther and farther.

Suddenly a hand with a note between its fingers appeared on her shoulder. Taking the piece of paper from the hand, she quickly opened it up and scanned it over.  
><em><br>"You're welcome MacPherson.  
>Meet me at the dot after school. I need to figure out what I'm going to make you do<em>."

Anya's face went pale. What the heck did she get herself into?

**Sorry I haven't updated lately! I've been busy! I'll try to update soon, but I have a few Enya one-shots coming first! **


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